In 1998, my life as a Geek would be turned upside down by a videogame called Baldur's Gate. It was my introduction to role playing games and I just loved it. Not only the game itself but also the setting was fantastic! Suddenly, I wanted to know more about these Forgotten Realms and their characters such as Elminster and Drizzt, its places like Nashkel and Beregost. As it turned out, Wizards of the Coast released Dungeons & Dragons (3rd Edition) two years later so I bought myself the D&D core rulebooks and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting as well. Until today I never played a session of D&D, but I bought all the 3/3.5 sourcebooks of the Realms nevertheless, and some novels. I passed on 4th edition however as I didn’t like the way they're headed with the Realms.

While studying in college (mid00’s), a good friend invited me to a board game evening. We played Catan. I rediscovered board games that evening. I had played board games like Monopoly, Clue and Scrabble in the past, but those new eurogames like Catan and Carcassonne redefined board games for a new generation. I got hooked at board games as well and have enjoyed many sessions of Agricola, Puerto Rico, Goa and Ora et Labora to name a few. In 2010 I started dating my current girlfriend. It turned out she was even a greater board game geek than I, resulting in a lot of board gaming since. Our collection has grown significantly over those couple of years.

When I have some spare time, I still play Civilization, StarCraft and even Europa Universalis IV on my PC. And the Realms? Let’s say that Elminster is luring me back to Waterdeep.

Top 10: My favorite 10 board games Hot 10: Most played since I started logging (August 2006)